Imaginative Education
Meets
Children’s Literature
Mark.Geary@dsu.edu
Simplify the IERG
• The goal of this presentation is to support
the goal of the IERG, to make education
engaging and meaningful, while
suggesting a simpler process for
implementation.
• Webquests with well defined adversarial
roles, and McKenzie’s Module Maker 2
from Questioning.org may also work well
The Imaginative Education Research Group introduces
new theories, principles, and practical techniques for
making education more effective. Because engaging
students' imaginations in learning, and teachers'
imaginations in teaching, is crucial to making knowledge
in the curriculum vivid and meaningful, we call this new
approach Imaginative Education (IE). The work of The
Imaginative Education Research Group is dedicated to
showing how this can be done routinely in everyday
classrooms and at home. Unfortunately so much of the
content of the curriculum is routinely taught as though its
natural habitat is a textbook rather than the fears, hopes,
and passions of real people that students too commonly
find it dull and lifeless, and un-engaging. We believe the
ideas, materials, and practices on this website can show
how to bring the curriculum to life
IERG History
• Egan Published Teaching as Storytelling
in 1988
• Established the IERG at Simon Fraser U
in Vancouver
• Lots of awards
Egan Video
Objective: Students will pick a topic or story to develop into a
topic using the Imaginative Education Research Group
templates and Guides. They will then build a lesson plan
based on one of the IERG guides. Planning Framework
Students will select some aspect of their elementary curriculum to
develop using a story based on the Binary Opposites lesson plan.
The plan should tell us what book is being used, how it relates to
the lesson, and what the emotional hook/binary opposite is, ie
what is the dynamic tension. Be sure to watch the binary
opposites video for review. Attached under files are two lesson
plans from Spring that can let you see what the output from the
assignment should look like. Please review the websites linked
carefully, as they explain Kieran Egan's Teaching as Storytelling
concepts in detail.
Assessment: In addition to following the guides, the plan
document gives the Story or Storybook being used, and the
subject area being taught. Planning Frameworks Guides
THE STORY FORM MODEL
IDENTIFYING IMPORTANCE:
What is most important about this topic?
Why should it matter to children?
What is affectively engaging about it?
FINDING BINARY OPPOSITES:
What powerful binary opposites best catch the importance of the topic?
ORGANIZING CONTENT INTO STORY FORM:
What content most dramatically embodies the binary opposites, in order to
provide access to the topic?
What content best articulates the topic into a developing story form?
CONCLUSION:
What is the best way of resolving the dramatic conflict inherent in the binary
opposites?
What degree of mediation of those opposites is it appropriate to seek?
EVALUATION:
How can one know whether the topic has been understood, its importance
grasped, and the content learned?
Three Basic Frameworks
• Mythic
• Romantic
• Philosophic
Hook
Topic: Ancient Civilizations (The Roman Empire)
Subject Area: Social Studies
Cognitive Tool: Narrative Structuring
What’s the story on the small Roman state that, at one point, dominated vast areas of
the world? A narrative on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire can be one focused
largely on human ambition. Deceit and murder were no strangers to the drama of
Roman leadership. One part of the narrative, then, would focus on the nature of the
ambition demonstrated by emperors of Rome. One might also look at the army. The
Roman army was also a major contributor to the building of the empire. How is military
might an example of ambition? Of course, ambition can have positive and negative
effects. It is generally noted, for example, that Rome suffered from an entire list of
problems. These included: a series of emperors whose military leaders sought to
overthrow them (some emperors had military leaders killed thereby weakening
leadership in their armies), endless infighting, weakening Roman unity (by the end
Rome had two capitals, Rome and Constantinople, each with its own emperor),
economic problems (Rome was spending far more than it could afford and by the end
didn’t have enough gold or silver to make its own coins), mass migration, and plagues
(illness decimated the Roman population). By addressing the reasons behind the rise
and fall of Rome in terms of ambition our students will encounter the extremes of
ambition, its pros and cons, and the human source of this great empire. At what point did
the desire for power of Rome as a whole, not to mention individual Romans, lead to its
demise? Such questions can be resolved in vivid narratives.
Best Books for Children
Review
“A reference catalog particularly for librarians featuring summaries of over
25,000 in-print titles suitable for children in grades K-6. Each entry lists the title,
author, publication date, price, ISBN, page count, and a one-sentence
summary. Review citations for the listed books draw upon six respected
publications: Booklist, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Horn Book,
Horn Book Guide, Library Media Connection, and School Library Journal; these
citations direct the librarian toward a more detailed discussion and evaluation of
the title in question.
An easy-to-use reference, sorted by book category and featuring a
comprehensive index, ^IBest Books for Children Preschool Through Grade 6^R
is a helpful and enthusiastically recommended tool for children's librarians
everywhere."
–Reviewer's Bookwatch
"Along with their siblings, Best Books for Middle School and Junior High
Readers, Grades 6-9 (2004) and Best Books for High School Readers, Grades
9-12 (2004), these titles are essential resources for school and public libraries.
How?
•
•
•
•
Read aloud / guided reading
Partner reading
Inner voice (Tovani, 2000)
Coding the text
46
Read Aloud / Guided Reading
• Research shows:
– Can generate interest in a topic
– Give struggling readers access to information
in difficult texts used in classroom
– Provide opportunity to model thinking process
to comprehend text
(Vacca & Vacca, 2005)
47
Read Aloud / Guided Reading
• Method:
1st – Select books or text that:
•
•
•
•
Hold interest
Stimulate discussion
Reflect many different cultures
Match social and emotional levels of listeners
48
Read Aloud / Guided Reading
• Method:
– 2nd – Prepare by practicing
– Last no longer than 15 minutes
– Use props (maps or pictures)
– 3rd – No need to read cover to cover
– Reading excerpts from book, magazine, newspaper
article can be more effective
49
Partner Reading
• Research shows:
– Partner reading supports less able readers
and can increase motivation
Rasinski, 2003
50
Partner Reading
• Method:
– Partners help each other clarify confusing
parts
– Partners retell main idea or events
– Partners can also predict what might happen
next
– Teacher circulates during partner reading to
assess comprehension
51
Inner Voice
• Tovani stated:
– Good readers carry on a conversation with
the author – called a conversational voice
– Good readers know when they are using their
recital voice (not paying attention to what is
read) and begin to get distracted
52
Inner Voice
• Method
– Mark text with stopping points
– Have students record what they were thinking
about on a sheet of paper
– Reveals where students get distracted
– Many students are not aware that they are
distracted and no longer comprehending the
text
53
54
Coding the text
• Research shows:
– Confident readers connect what they already
know to what they are reading
55
Coding the text
• Method
– Teach 3 symbols (check mark, ! and ?)
– Check means I knew this (background
knowledge)
– ! Means this is important to remember
– ? Means I am confused or don’t understand
56
Coding the Text
• ? Are topics for discussion or further
inquiry
57
Recommendations
• Ditch the textbook for experienced
teachers
• Pay them to develop their own materials
• Look for the emotional engagement of the
new content
• Refer them to the IERG website for
planning frameworks
• Use Children’s Literature as a resource for
ALL subjects
References
Appleby, J., Brinkley, A., & McPherson, J. M. (1998). The American Journey. New York:
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.
FCAT Design Summary. (2005). Retrieved March 27, 2006 from
http://www.firn.edu/doe/sas/fcat/pdf/
fc05designsummary.pdf.
Rasinski, T. V. (2003). The fluent reader. New York: Scholastic Professional Books
Tovani, C. (2000). I read it, but I don’t get it: Comprehension strategies for adolescent
readers. Portland, MA: Stenhouse.
Vacca, R.T., & Vacca, J.L. (2005). Content area reading: Literacy and learning across the
curriculum. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
59